Oh my gosh! you say as you are standing in a check out line watching a mother of four cashing in a boat load of coupons. You stand there and wonder 'hmmm I wonder where she got all those coupons?' And 'wow! She saved how much with her stack?!?' Makes you want to delve into the world of coupons. Well, welcome to my world and I have MY mother to thank for for that!! Thanks Momma!!
Where to start: Start by buying a Sunday paper and checking the ads. See what the stores have to offer for what you need. I am not committed to a brand name. But the object of the game is to buy a product at its cheapest and use the coupon on top of that sale price. I learned to buy one for each of my family members. I have six in my family so for me I usually have six coupons for products that I really really like. Hence, the beginning of the makings of a stockpile. Just remember buy low and stock up!
Where to find: In case you haven't noticed coupons are EVERYWHERE! They are inside cereal boxes, stuck on the outside of products (peelies), inside laundry soap.....EVERYWHERE! There are four main places to find coupons:
1. Internet coupons: Coupons.com, Smartsource.com, Redplum.com and so many more. I will make a list of all the ones I use later. Important to remember that on each computer you are limited to two prints. Its great when you have more than one computer in the house or you have a spouse who has one at work! :)
2. Magazines: Coupons are found in so many magazines. But the magazine that is the best is AllYou Magazine and Walmart is the only place to purchase it other than as a subscription. Definitely worth buying!
3. Sunday newspaper: I subscribe to the Democrat and Chronicle Sunday Paper. I also purchase more Sunday papers when the coupons are good. At the Dollar Store the papers there are $1 vs. $1.50 at other stores. Here is a website for coupon insert previews. Be aware that coupon inserts are regional meaning they vary from place to place. One town may have x coupon but the next town over may not. This preview just gives you the heads up of whats out there because on another tangent you can get coupons through a coupon clipping service here. You can also get just the coupon inserts here. I have never done this but give it a try. It may work for you.
4. Go directly to manufacturer: I have done this a lot. I sign up to their website for newsletters and I also "like" them on facebook and follow on twitter. Got a favorite product? Google it.
Now that you have coupons where do you put them??
How to organize: There are SO many different ways to organize your coupons. Find the system that works best for you. For me, cutting them all out of the insert does not work. What I do is I take all of my inserts and I label them with the date they came out. Check out this tutorial. If there are some Q's that I don't want to forget about and knowing about the regional differences what I do is write on the cover of the insert what is inside. Not a big deal to do. Then I use a coupon database that tells me where I can find the coupons I need and I cut them out. I also have a binder for all of the printable and loose coupons that I have.
So, start out small, choose one store and get to know it, set some time aside each week to go through the ads and do the match ups. You will be astonished at how much you can save!
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